Gang of 2 Kuwaitis, bedoun held for trafficking in arms

09/11/2015

KUWAIT CITY, Nov 8: Director-General of the Department of Weapons Security M a j o r- G e n e r a l Faraj Al-Zuabi was recently quoted as saying the security authorities were able to dismantle an international network which specialized in smuggling arms and ammunition from Turkey to Iraq, storing in Kuwait and then moving the ordnance to a neighboring country, reports Al- Qabas daily.

He added, the plainclothes police have taken into custody two Kuwaitis and a bedoun but the main suspect is said to have escaped from the country within two hours after he came to know that the network had been busted by the Kuwaiti security authorities. Al-Zuabi added the arrest came following cooperation and coordination between his department and the border security forces. It has been reported the gang had successfully smuggled into the country via Iraq a large cache of arms on two occasions last October. Al-Zuabi was also quoted as saying shops in the country which are licensed to sell weapons had sold to the network large quantities of ammunition in violation of the law in return for a lot of money more than the real value.

According to legal sources, after obtaining permission from the authorities to make inventory of the shop the authorities found a significant number of discrepancies. He continued saying the shop owner has been referred to the Public Prosecution. He stressed any shop which violates the law and sells ammunition to people who do not hold the licence will be referred to the Public Prosecution, the shop shall be closed and the license shall be withdrawn. Al-Zuabi said it all happened with the border securitymen arrested two Iraqis inside the Kuwaiti border in possession of 60 weapons and during interrogation they confessed to smuggling weapons on earlier occasions.

They also said these weapons were received by people inside Kuwait and guided police to four Iraqis who helped them in smuggling operations following which the Kuwaiti authorities informed their Iraqi counterparts. He pointed out the investigations led to arrest of a citizen identified only as A. It is he who allegedly received the weapons and ammunition and left the country two hours after his accomplices were arrested by the police.

He said investigation revealed the bedoun, identified only as N. is the one who guided police to Kuwaitis who stored the weapons in a livestock pen. One of them is the owner of the pen. The two Kuwaitis were seized in possession of 325,000 rounds of ammunition hidden inside a truck owned by one of them. This is in addition to a quantity of other weapons. All those arrested have been referred to the Public Prosecution.